Viper's Kiss
by Manga Nin
Summary: A new enemy is bending time and the four Heroes must put aside their fight with Lucien to investigate. The Brightwood cullis gate malfunctions and sends Sparrow to a place she never expected. Will she return to Albion intime to defeat Lucien?
1. Chapter 1

**Right, this is my first Fable fanfic. This story takes place a little bit after Sparrow recruited Reaver and before the final battle. Sparrow prefers Skill and some Strength but only uses Will in some situations. If anything is wrong then leave a little review, I don't mind if its criticism. **

**Disclaimer: Lion Head Studios owns the Fable series, but I own Mr Heffrer. **

**Enjoy: **

**Chap 01: Traveling Companions **

Sparrow lay outstretched on her stomach, under the light sheets of her bed, fast asleep. Her vigorous tossing and turning about was due to all too vivid dream of the Crucible. She enjoyed the competition when she had taken part, but afterwards her body felt as though it would shatter into fragments. She had twisted herself around in the sheets so much that they were wrapped about her like a cocoon. Sparrow had torn her way free from what she thought was a Balverine entangled around her.

Her arm draped over the edge of the bed and her hand rested on the wooden floor. A very wet, very warm sensation formed on her hand. Sparrow pulled her arm back under the sheets and continued to dream. But that wet sensation crept onto her face and wiped itself all over her open mouth and nose.

"Russell!" She tried shoving her dog off but he was a persistent hound. He jumped up next to her and wagged his light, shaggy tail. Sparrow slowly opened her eyes a fraction and saw the sun shining brightly through her windows. Her lithe fingers ran themselves through her short black hair and wiped some of Russell's saliva off of her face.

Sitting up, she stretched her arms up as high as she could above her head before she got out of bed. Without bothering to lift her feet off the floor, she walked to her clothes cupboard. She shrugged off her night shirt and reached for her red dyed shirt and pulled it over her head. The shirt was tight on her torso, especially her chest. She jumped into her grey Highwayman pants. Sparrow sat at the foot of her bed and pulled her grey and white Highwayman boots out from under the bed. As she pulled on a pair of socks and buckled her boots, she looked around her house.

It was one of those typical one room farmhouses that one found in Oakfield. Her bed was against the back wall in the centre, facing the door. To her left was her clothes cupboard and a nice cozy fire place with a comfortable arm chair by it. To her right, on the other side of the bed was another shelf and another cupboard, but that she used to keep her food and supplies in. Next to that was the stove and sink. A little yonder that was a dining room table with chair at the window and by the door was shelves for her books, and cupboard for her china and cutlery.

_Manure Manor may be small, but it's my house,_ Sparrow thought to herself. She heard the Town Crier call for the stalls to open. She disliked that man, he was always too loud. Sparrow walked over to her food cabinet and plucked out some celery, apples and carrots. A thick chopping board was on the dinning table and she dumped all the food on it and took a big butcher's knife from the cutlery cabinet and chopped the fruit and vegetables, alike into bite size chunks. Sparrow scrapped everything into a bowl and sat down in the chair, with a fork in hand and started eat her crunchy morning concoction.

Once she was done, she put the knife, fork, the chopping board and the bowl, all in the sink. She went to the front door and grabbed her Highwayman coat hanging on the coat stand. She swung her grey coloured coat with red dyed sleeves over her shoulders and snaked her arms through the sleeves. People often thought she looked intimidating in her Highwayman outfit, but she really didn't understand why. The only reason she was wore it was because of the beautiful blue embroidery on the coat. The young Hero was about to go out when she remembered to take her weapon and hat with. Her Master longsword was leaning casually against the bookshelf and her hat on the coat stand by the door. She strapped in the last strap to keep her sword from falling off her back, but also so that she could easily draw the blade out in a quick draw and then strode to the coat stand. Sparrow mounted her grey dyed Highwayman hat on her head and stepped outside, into the warm autumn sun.

"Mornin' Bridgette," she greeted the egg herder she hired when she bought Manure Manor.

"Top of the mornin' to ya Sparrow," Bridgette greeted back before she continued herding the eggs together.

The Hero continued on her way to the carriage house next to Rookridge Road and checked if her produce was securely packed into the carts that were going on the next carriage for Bowerstone and straight to the produce store she owned in the Market Square. She then strode leisurely down the dirt pathway, between the farm lands to the Sandgoose.

The morning traffic were all bustling in the bar, shouting at the barmaids and ordering refills from old Charlie. The tables were packed on double with jolly farm workers downing their drinks before they had to make off to the fields. Sparrow snagged an empty chair by the bar and smiled warmly at old Charlie.

"Single Hobbe Water?" he checked as he poured the clear liquid into a glass chalice for her and settled it down in front of her. She never understood by it was called Hobbe Water, when it was a liquor. Sure, it has been known to cause blindness after bottle and a glass straight of just pure Hobbe Water. It was a silly name. It reminded her more of Hobbe piss than a good, expensive drink, but at least it didn't put her off it entirely.

Sparrow lifted her chalice in thanks and took a sip at the liquor. She tried to visit the Sandgoose whenever she was in Oakfield and Charlie knew well enough to serve her a single chalice of Hobbe Water. A crowd was forming at the opposite side of the bar, where the bigger tables were.

"It's true I tell yee!" A rough, slackly voice shouted at the crowd as they howled in laughter.

Sparrow took another sip of her liquor and tried to listen to the voice, over the loud laughter. She recognized the voice but she wanted to savor her rum, she hated rushing a good drink down.

The crowd was harsh on the speaker, saying things like: "Go to the Gypsies where they'll maybe listen to you, old nutter!" or "No one cares, you old sack, your jus' an inconvenience to everyone!"

Sparrow finished her drink and stormed over to the crowd. "Ain't you all got to go to work?" They all froze and scattered as they realized they were late for work. "Thought so!" She walked over to the old man leaning against the wall. He was dirty and dressed in equally old and dirty breeches and a thin coat and a tattered clothe hat on his gray head. "C'mon Mr Heffer," she motioned towards an empty table and sat down with him. "Hey Rosalie, can you get me a Sandgoose Rum for Mr Heffer." The blonde-haired barmaid nodded and went off to Charlie.

"Thes' no need ta do tha' Sparra," he said, leaning back into the chair. He was a stubborn old man, but she knew he had a strange liking for Sandgoose Rum. But Mr Heffer was then again, a very strange old man.

"Of course there is. I want to treat you, and there is nothing you can say about it." She smiled at the old man she had come to love as a grandfather over the past few years. Rosalie set the rum down in front of Mr Heffer and went off to serve the other customers. "So, what were you telling that bunch of Hobbe snorts?" Sparrow knew he loved his wild stories, and he knew she would always listen to them no matter how impossible they sounded. In truth, it reminded her of Rose when she was just eight and her older sister told her wild stories of a female warrior that fought ice monsters.

"It's a vision I tell yee! A vision sent from Avo himself!" He took in a generous amount of rum before he continued. "Thes' this far away land ya see, a land much like ours bu' tis sandy and dry. This land has them talkin', flesh-eating rabbits an' small humans, the size of them Hobbes! Tha' ain't all young Sparra! A dark magic, shadow, thing, lurks under the ground and from it pops up some foul creatures. There's a chicken ya see. Tha' leads those things. It's a very foul thing that! It'll melt ya with a single glare of its huge purple eyes. I tell yee one thing: there's dark days commin' in that place. Dark days. Bu', I've seen some hope!

Sparrow sat on the edge of her seat and waited for him to go on with his tale. Mr Heffer took another large gulp of rum before he continued. He saw the young Hero was very engrossed in his vision he was telling her.

"Thes' this band of Heroes ya see. Maybe two or ten of em, I didn't count. They didn't even introduce themselves ta me! Ain't that rude?" Mr Heffer always knew how to make people laugh; well, the people that would listen to him anyway. "Sept this one looked more like a giant Hobbe ta me. Sparra ya have ta believe me! This place exists and there is great trouble comin', and ya the only one that can help 'em!"

Sparrow winced; this was the first time he said anything about her being involved in anything. "All right, Mr Heffer, if I find this place and I come back, _alive_ then I'll get you a whole crate of rum. You have my word on it."

"Oh, I remember now!" he shouted. "Susie says 'hi' by th' way." Susie was Mr Heffer's gentle wife, and how she got married to him was anyone's guess. She was probably already hard at work in one of the fields, supervising.

"I'm right here, you old goon," a voice said from the door of the bar. Susie seemed out of breathe from just walking from the field to the bar. "Why Susie," Mr Heffer exclaimed, "you forgot your clogs!" The old woman sighed and stood next to him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "I told you, Billy, I don't have clogs. It's all just your imagination."

"Oh, well then – wait twas Old Man Burrow tha' wore clogs! He was the old sly he was; always sneakin' off to ge' a drink and leave us youngins ta do the work. But by Avo th' man could play Keystone!"

Susie sighed. "Are you sure that wasn't you dear?"

"Hm… well, no I ain't never played Keystone before. Wait- twas me Uncle Jeremy that was th' Keystone player. I'm sure of it!"

"Well, Susie you look tired, why don't you sit in my seat." Sparrow offered. "I have to go do some things anyway." The young Hero set off, leaving poor Susie to listen to her husband.

She slowed her pace as she got to the pathway leading to the Temple of Light, she needed to make her monthly tithe after all. The over grown grasses were swaying in beat with the soft breeze. Russell was running about frantically, his golden coat shinning in the sunlight. His Collar of Brooding looked out of place with his gentle face and shinny coat of fur. But Sparrow was scarred that someone thought he looked too cute and then would whisk him away in the night; the collar gave him that little dangerous edge.

_Hello, Hero,_ a voice whispered in her head. Sparrow was beginning to think that what the citizens thought of the Guildmaster was right: they were annoying. Theresa did prove herself to be annoying, very annoying. _There is a matter that needs your attention. I want all of you to come to the Heroes Guild. You'll need to travel to Bower Lake and use that cullis gate. The others will meet you there. _The blind seer's echoing voice faded away and the young Hero sighed to herself. Her work never seemed to end.

Sparrow turned on her heel and went back up the big, grey stone stairs. She could not help but glance at the Wellspring entrance as she passed by, half expecting to see Hammer sitting on one of the half collapsed walls, drinking and singing. She missed her red-haired, ogre sized monk friend. She suddenly wondered if Hammer had bashed anyone's face in lately. She shrugged and told herself to ask her when they met at the Guild. Russell was happily chasing after a lone moth in the grass.

Sparrow pressed her lips together and whistled for him to come over. The golden hound gave a slight whimper when his master beckoned for him to stop playing, but he went to her none the less. The young Hero hummed softly to herself as she and Russell walked side-by-side over towards the bridge in front of the Sandgoose. Small children scurried about her feet as she tried to get back to her house. They were demanding to get her autograph, but in the current economy, paper was expensive even the little square cuts were over priced. Eventually when she took the long route home, the children started to sulk and ran off to play in the fields where their parents weren't working.

Sparrow walked back to her house and gave the produce seller a curt nod as she passed by him. Bridgette was still there, herding the eggs together. The workers were piling crates and sacks in the young Hero's mill, by the river. The field workers that worked for Sparrow on her patch of farm land were tilting the soil and plucking out all the new weeds that had shot up over night.

The door to her house stood wide open. No one dared to enter her house in fear of being bashed in the face with a mace or cut in half with a sword. She pushed herself against a brick wall and listened to the intruder's footsteps. The sound was heavy, so it had to be a man. Sparrow drew her longsword quietly and clenched her fists about the hilt tightly. She burst through the doorway, expecting to see an assassin or a really retarded bandit.

The red-clad intruder was sitting all too comfortably at the dinner table with his booted feet propped up on the table.

"Quite a cozy little house you have, Sparrow. It suits you," he said, weaving his gloved hands together.

"Reaver what are you doing in my house? A better question yet, what are you doing in _Oakfield_?" She asked furiously. Her face blazed with anger. Reaver was annoying enough by himself when they went on jobs for Theresa. She didn't need or want him commenting on her house or lifestyle. The young Hero lowered her sword but she did not let go of it.

The pirate noticed her immediate anger to his presence in her abode. "Well, I was in the neighborhood, my dear, and I decided to drop in. But it is very difficult not to get mud on your shoes in this forsaken place."

Sparrow tossed her blade onto her bed that she had not even bothered to make before she left and pulled a chair out from under the table and sat opposite Reaver. "Mind telling me why you're not on your way to the Guild yet?" She didn't ask for him to answer, she demanded an answer.

"I had the most splendid idea when the old seer told me about that," the pirate exclaimed, "why don't both of us travel there together? Think about it, you can kill all those dirty bandits and giant bugs for me, so that I don't have to soil my clothes."

Sparrow left out a sigh. "You're a selfish bastard you know that?"

Reaver smiled and winked his green eyes at her. "I know my dear, but I usually get my way. So are you going to be my beautiful traveling companion, temporarily of course?"

"NO!" She crossed her arms over her chest and gave the pirate a rather dreadful glare. She wished she hadn't put her kitchen knife out of reach when she needed it. "You might jump me while I sleep and then I'll just end up _severely _hurting you and torturing you with a blunt spoon. Then we'll be sitting without the Hero of Skill, and _then _were would we be?"

His green eyes sparkled. "My, my, what a dirty mind you have, my dear. So what if I end up seducing you? I swear on it that you'll enjoy it and in the end, beg me for more." He licked his lips and stared at the young Hero lustfully.

Sparrow flushed and jumped off her chair and grabbed her big butcher's knife in the sink and stalked towards the perverted pirate. Her knuckles went white with the amount of pressure she was gripping the knife.

Reaver stood up and grabbed her wrist with such a speed that Sparrow could not follow the movement with her eyes alone, less react to it. His hold was strong and forceful about her wrist. His free hand also snaked itself around her other wrist and pushed her against a part of the wall that was bare. The momentum had knocked off the young Hero's hat, leaving her face curtained by short, curvy black tresses.

The pirate slammed her hand into the wall with an extra force that it weakened her grip on the knife and it clattered down next to their feet. He locked his green eyes with her brightly coloured blue ones. Neither evaded the other's gaze. The pirate slowly tilted his head down, still locked in his gaze with her. He shifted her hands up along the wall until they were above her head.

Her soft pink lips seemed to tease him as they opened to protest but then silenced as he surprisingly with a tender force, brushed his lips over hers. He was rewarded with a light gasp that escaped her throat. The pirate took advantage of the moment to steal her lips. Without much effort he snaked his tongue through and explored the warm cavern of her mouth. He danced his tongue around hers, but the young Hero was too stunned at the contact to respond to him.

Sparrow was too enthralled by the pirate's kiss to have noticed that he had let go of one of her wrists. His free hand rid itself of the glove and snaked down her torso and under her shirt. Her skin was soft, but he felt the goose bumps his fingers had left on their venture up her chest.

The young Hero began to panic when she realized that his deft fingers were itching their way closer to the centre of her chest. She shoved Reaver off, breaking all contact between the two of them. She pushed past him, turning her back to him while she straightened her shirt and ran her fingers roughly through her hair.

Sparrow avoided his gaze as best she could and the effort made the pirate chuckle deeply in his throat as he savored the taste of her mouth. She lightly treaded to her clothes cupboard that was thankfully on the other side of the room. Swinging the doors open, she grabbed a large brown duffle bag and held it in her one hand while the other tossed varies items inside the cupboard aside. She folded an extra shirt, a pair of black explorer pants, a light-weight coat, and her all important in-case-of-emergencies knife into the bag. She tossed the bag onto the bed but made it her point not to look at Reaver.

Her Steel Rifle, lined with light-weight oak was gathering a slight layer of dust on the bottom shelf of the cupboard. She really couldn't even all the cupboard a clothes cupboard at all. Only half a shelf was actually used for her clothing, the rest was all weapon space. Her favourite weapon was lying neatly and carefully on the middle shelf. She only used her longsword when she needed to make a trip into town.

A smile crept onto her face as she took the hefty weight of it into her hands; the simple sensation of holding it made her forget Reaver was even there.

"Calavera," Sparrow whispered its name every time she it in her hands for what seemed like the first time. The mace belonged to the legendary warrior-witch known as the Viperess. The grip felt like silk that ran between her fingers. The top end of the mace was a pure white, perfect human skull. Two thick, golden metal strips ran over the contours of it and they were adorned with well sculpted spikes that had a great deal of damage to any part of a body, given the wielder knew how to use it.

She strapped both the rifle and Calavera onto her back and closed the doors. Sparrow glanced over at Reaver, who was looking over her literary collection. Taking the duffle bag in hand she walked over to her food cabinet and wrapped three small breads into a cloth and did the same with some salted meats and dried mangos. All she needed now was her bag filled with her gun ammo and her bag of gold. Three medium sized pocket bags hung from the coat stand: one was a deep, royal blue and the other two were bags of stitched leather. She tied the blue bag with gold to her belt, as well as one of the two leather bags with her ammo in. The remaining bag she stuffed into her duffle bag and looked furiously at the pirate who was taking his time -still- examining the bookshelf.

He took one of her expensive hardcover books in hand and flipped through it. It was her favourite book: The Fabulous Creatures of Albion and Beyond. Once he was done, he flopped the book down onto the shelf with total disregard. Sparrow was not nearly as surprised as she should have been at his absolute disrespect towards her possessions. It was Reaver, the infamous Pirate King after all.

"Reaver…" Sparrow tried her best not to snap at him, "are… you… done… yet?"

He ignored her and went to her clothes cupboard. He swung the door wide open and inspected every item inside. Sparrow begged to Avo that he would bore before he reached the box on the bottom shelf. But Reaver scanned everything thoroughly. He held up each piece of clothing he found and threw it aside in distaste.

"Sparrow, my dear, you should really buy a better attire, especially one that would do that body of yours some justice," He said, glancing over at the young Hero who was standing with her mouth wide open in utter disbelief. The pirate finally reached the bottom shelf and withdrew the dust coated box. "And what dirty secrets lay within you?" He asked with a mischievous glint in his green eyes.

Reaver laid he box down on the dinning room table and turned to Sparrow and motioned for her to come over. She crept her way over to the other side of the table, her face as white as ash. "Righto, this is how this is going to work: I'll ask you one time what is in the box and if you don't answer or if I think it's a lie, I'll open it. So, what's in the box, Sparrow?"

The young Hero settled her eyes on the box and thought about her answer. "I… It's personal, something I put behind me some time ago."

The pirate smiled. "Lies. When you have something like that, you bury or burn it, not keep it in the house. So, I think I have earned the right to open it I believe." With the very point of his fingertips, he popped the lid. What was in it had surprised the pirate; in fact it made him grin wolfishly. He moved the folded translucent paper aside and admired the ebony black lace covered silk corset, complete with matching black lace panties.

"My, my. Sparrow, my dear, why hide this?" He picked up the corset and held it up against Sparrow's chest. "Much better."

Sparrow flushed a deep pink and brushed the corset off and stomped her way to the door. "Are you gonna come with or shall I leave you behind?" Russell sprang up and jumped his way over to the gate.

After hours of snide comments and complaints form Reaver's part, Sparrow was glad to make camp over the remains of the Temple of Shadows. She had to go out and collect the fire wood while Reaver lounged around, doing nothing useful. She returned with an arm full of branches she collected form the old abandoned carriage house. Once the fire crackled to life, the young Hero settled down next to the orange flames and dug around in her duffle bag for her salted meat.

She crossed her legs casually and folded the cloth open on her legs and started wolfing down on big slice of meat. She licked her salted fingers happily, trying to remain oblivious to the pirate's presence.

"Urgh. How can you eat like that?" Reaver asked as he watched Sparrow licking her fingers. "It's revolting."

She simply shrugged and wiped her palms off against her pants. "Well, Reaver, it's either starve or eat with what you got and in this case, my fingers are all I have to use to eat with." Sparrow rose up in one fluid motion and walked about the crumbling cathedral. The stars were bright and heavy in the night sky. The soft sound of waves crashing against the rocks seemed like a sweet melody.

She glanced down at herself and with shocking disgust realized that she was covered in blood; not just bandit blood but there was some Hobbe in there too. Turing profusely on her heel she climbed her was back to the camp fire and snatched up her duffle bag.

"Were are you going?" Reaver asked as he watched her storm off behind a wall. "You stay right there, Reaver!" Sparrow howled back at him. The young Hero made sure that there was no way the Thief was able to spy on her without her knowing. Tossing the bag into a corner, she shrugged her coat off and laid it down over a rock. She kicked her boots off and set them next to the rock and pulled her shirt over her head. Next Sparrow loosened the buckle of her belt and pulled her pants off and folded them moderately neatly and up it down atop her coat.

The pirate stood atop one of the walls not too far from Sparrow. He was completely concealed in the shadows cast by a larger wall. He stood admiring her creamy moon lit skin, and her well muscled body, she knew not to over do the muscle in order to keep her feminine figure. He gently jumped to the ground and slowly made his advance to the unsuspecting Hero. When she bent down to pull clothes out of the bag, the pirate saw the full extent of her full, firm buttocks. _Pity about the bland underwear, but it will have to do,_ he thought to himself as she stood straight again. The pirate's arms encircled Sparrow's body and his warm breath misted down the nape of her neck. His fingers splayed over her smooth stomach and traveled around her abdomen as he muzzled her neck with his teeth. The young Hero tried to struggle free but her efforts were futile as the pirate trapped her within the cage of his arms.

Sparrow felt panic sink in the pit of her stomach. She didn't want this. She promised _not _to do this, but… He felt so warm against her skin; even with his clothes on, she still felt the heat that radiated off of him. A gasp escaped her throat as Reaver kneed at her buttocks. Her body involuntarily responded in a shiver. The young Hero clenched a fist full of the pirate's lush brown hair.

Reaver sucked on her ear lobe, earning a soft moan from her. He didn't want her to moan, he wanted her to scream her lungs raw with the effort. He slid his hand over the contours of her ribs and traveled up to her chest. Sparrow had yet to realize that she had even closed her eyes.

Sparrow shot her eyes open and ducked out under the pirate's grasp. She made an effort to cover most of her chest and yanked on her spare white shirt before Reaver could get to her again. She yanked her pants on and swung her bag and her dirty clothes over her shoulders and swiftly clutched her boots and run off back to the camp fire. The pirate watched her haste off. He promised that he would take her, show her how it felt to melt down with pleasure. When he finally rejoined the young Hero she was fully dressed and to his dismay she was wearing a coat again. He eyed the mace cradled in her lap as if it were a child.

"How is it that you acquired the legendary mace of the Viperess?" he had meant to ask her that question since the day he first met her. Legend was that only the warrior-mage herself could muster the Strength and Will power combined to lift the hefty weapon from the ground, let alone have energy left to even activate its flame augment.

Sparrow thought it a very strange question to ask out of the blue, but what made the question more strange was the fact that Reaver was the one to ask it. "Well, lets just say I had to do some… deeds to acquire access into the Keep. Within was the mace, when I approached, I heard its mesmerizing poignant song for the first time. As I took it in my hands, the song flowed from the mace and is now in me - Wait why do you want to know anyway?" Her passion for Calavera ran so deep that she openly talked about it to the pirate, who looking at both her and the weapon suspiciously.

"I merely want to know how you acquired a treasure I searched for centuries for," he smiled. "What made you special? What did you have that I lacked, in order to acquire the Viperess' Calavera?" his face was dark, and seemed somewhat… disappointed? Sparrow could not fathom that she had something the Pirate King was after with a sore heart. Reaver stood and wondered around the ruins.

Sparrow let the man be and snuggled back into a smooth slab of granite that had maybe once have been part of the ceiling, but now it made for her bed. Russell lay down by her legs and gave a rather human-like sigh before he drifted off to sleep. In the soft glow of fire, Sparrow could see the silver hairs forming around Russell's chin. She ran her fingers over his head and remembered the fateful day that she and Rose saved him. … Fateful? Sparrow echoed that word over in her mind. That day forced young Sparrow out of her childish mind and spirit, and forged a hunger for vengeance. She wondered how Reaver lived on, knowing that he sacrificed an entire village. How did he make himself forget… more importantly; how could she make herself forget her inability to save her own sister?

Sparrow was blessed with a blank, dark sleep. Her backhand rubbed the sleep from her eyes and covered her mouth as she yawned. The coals left from the pervious night were dead cold. Russell greeted her with a joyous bark, but something seemed missing. …Reaver… Sparrow thought that he couldn't have gone far and took her time in packing her bag properly. Once Calavera, her rifle and the duffle bag were comfortably on her back, she set off to find the pirate.

The pirate was in actual fact waiting for the young Hero to wake up and join him at the gates. "Finally, Sparrow," he said as she stood next to him. She was a tall woman, but he was still taller by inches. "Here," the pirate tossed an apple her way, but it flew straight over her head and just above an arm's reach. Sparrow summoned up her telekinesis and made it float into the palm of her hand. "The hell was that about? I'm right next to you." Reaver did not give her an answer and even if he did, she was sure she wouldn't have understood his reasons anyway.

The apple was large and had a smooth, golden-yellow coat. She sank her teeth in and ripped off a large chunk. It was surprisingly sweet and crunchy… and maybe it was a coincidence that it was just the way she liked apples, especially the golden ones. There was no way Reaver could have known that golden apples were her favourite, could he?

The two Heroes made their way through the winding paths of Rookridge with little interference. Soon they were in Old Town, unsurprisingly, Reaver found the place absolutely appalling, with its happy, clean citizens and all the bright flowers.

"It wasn't always like this you know," Sparrow informed him. "It used to be as bad and almost as unlawful as Bloodstone." Memories started flowing back and forth in her mind.

Her fondest memory was when she was about five years old. It was Rose's birthday and Sparrow wanted to do something special for her. She set off early in the morning, before her big sister woke up and raided every garden patch she could find. When she got back, Rose was still sleeping, but young Sparrow made sure not to wake her as she put down her bundle of white daisies. She spent two hours working with the flowers to weave them into a pretty floral crown for her sister. Rose began to wake and Sparrow took the crown gently and put it on her sleepy sister's head.

"Sparra, why as you full of muck and what did you put on my head?" She asked all those questions with a voice thick with sleep. Sparrow gently guided Rose's hand and allowed her to feel the crown she made for her.

"Happy Birthday, Rosie!" A giant smile grew on her face and gave her sister a big hug. Hot tears fell on her head and she looked up alarmingly at her crying sister. "Why are you crying, Rosie? Don't you like it?"

"No, Sparrow I l-love it," she said without trying to make herself sound like a girl who just had her heart broken in two. "It's just so special, little sis. How did you get all these flowers?"

Sparrow had found the same crown of daisies pressed in Rose's diary when she went back to Old Town for the first time in ten years. The young Hero kept the book and flowers safe and sound at her house in Oakfield.

"Hello, Sparrow?" Reaver snapped his fingers in her ear to draw her attention away from her thoughts. "Come now, I would prefer not to dally here, so come on, Sparrow dear." Reaver called her along and soon he found himself dawdling around the market square of Bowerstone. _She's just like any other woman,_ he thought, _always hell-bent on spending money at a square, but… _Reaver saw Sparrow practically drooling over a pistol that was on display. She nagged and raved at the old, soot covered smith about giving her a discount. Reaver noted that she handed over her rifle and tied a leather holster to her thigh.

Sparrow walked over to he pirate with a triumphant smile on her lips. He rolled his eyes. Nothing could ever be as extravagant as his .48, no matter how it expensive it may have been towards the young Hero's pockets.

"Yes, yes, you bought a new gun, how exciting," he chanted mockingly. "Now may we leave this place? I want to hear what the old seer has to complain about and then make my way back home." He walked past Sparrow, who followed in silence.

Bower Lake was infested with giant beetles. Sparrow had to kill them all off as Reaver stood a league away from the fight, afraid that the beetles would soil his clothes. The young Hero let one of the beetles slip past her and waited until it was just close enough to Reaver when she fire a single bullet from her new pistol. The beetle exploded into a spray of green chunks and blood, but generous amount was now coating the pirate's expensive red clothes. The pirate stood with his mouth open as he surveyed his clothes.

"You… You did that on purpose didn't you, you she-devil!" he muttered constantly to himself as she tried to smeared the gunk off of him. Sparrow laughed out her content as continued on her way to the cullis gate, not caring if Reaver was behind her or not. Russell trotted his way ahead, often glancing back to see if his master was still there.

The young Hero activated the cullis gate and was blinded by the white-blue glow that consumed her. She waited a few moments for her eyesight to adjust to the dark gloom of the Guild Hall. Teresa was standing by a table scatted with old maps and documents, Garth was minding his own in a corner, far away from the old seer. Hammer strode over to the young Hero and gave her a bone crushing bear hug, lifting Sparrow off her feet for a moment. She lightly returned the hug. Sparrow sat down on a stool by the table and rested her head in her hand.

Twenty minutes passed in stale silence as they waited for the Hero of Skill. "All right, where is he?" hammer demanded, tossing her empty bottle of beer aside. "If he doesn't come soon, I swear, I'll find em and put him in a tiny bag and drag his arse back here." Hammer and Reaver disliked each other like mouse and cat, well, maybe rather a large rat and overweight cat, but it was the same principle basically.

As if there was a greater cosmic power at work, Reaver stepped through the cullis gate, still trying to clean is clothes off. "It's about bloody time you showed!" The red-haired monk bellowed at him. "If you want someone to blame," he began, "blame that she-devil over there." He shot his eyes over to Sparrow who tried to hold her laughter back, but finally gave in and burst out, nearly falling off the stool. "Yes, ha ha." Reaver was not going to let that incident slide past that easily.

"Moving on," Teresa seemed very serious, perhaps even grim. All four Heroes drew closer to the old seer. "There seems to be some new developments in Wraithmarsh; troubling developments. Whether this is by Lucien's hand or not, I need all four of you to travel there and unearth whatever you can."

Sparrow found all this too strange. "But how do you know there is something going on his Wraithmarsh? I mean, last time I was there you said that the mist dampens your powers to be able to see anything there."

"Well, there has been an unnatural tip of power balance over the last few months. At first they were nothing, but then they grew to a troubling amount, troubling enough for me to have to call on all four of the Heroes."

Garth grunted and shifted uneasily beside Sparrow. "Any idea about what might be doing this? Even Lucien that has control of the Spire has enough power to do what you have described. Well, the power that would be needed to bend the very forces of time well, then it may have to be a sorcerer from the Old Kingdom and that in itself is very troubling."

Hammer seemed very confused and shifted her heavy weight from foot to foot. But Hammer was easily confused by matters involving magic or history, or geography or basically most things. "But how is that even possible, the Old Kingdom ended nearly a thousand years ago. I mean, all those magic sorties should be cold dust in the ground by now."

"I agree with Hammer on this one," Garth knew he was going to be taking a big hit to his ego by agreeing with the monk. "This makes no sense at all."

Teresa smiled shortly and folded her hands in front of her. "Well then, I suggest you move on to make sense of this matter, but I do advise using the Brightwood cullis gate to get to Wraithmarsh. Sparrow was the first one to make her way to the top of the Heroes' Hill and as usual, the other three Heroes had to wait for the pirate. All four Heroes set off for Brightwood.

Between Hammer and Sparrow, they made quick work of any bandits that straggled in their way. Garth was lucky enough that his magic even struck a bandit after he was bashed inside out. Reaver did what he did best; being a total pain in the arse.

"Urgh, how much further?" He started to complain before they even set foot in Brightwood. "My shoes are covered in dirt… unless you would clean them for me, dear Sparrow." The young Hero cocked her head backwards and furrowed her brow. _Did he seriously think I was going to fall for that? _She mused to herself. _He did promise payback for what happened earlier. _

They continued walking until the tower was fully visible, but still two hours walk away. Sparrow called for a rest. Hammer threw herself down onto the ground, and Garth leaned casually under the shade of a tree. The young Hero ventured in the wood a little further, to find a clear stream of water to fill the up her provisions. She knelt down on her hunches and held the bottle against the stream and waited for it to fill.

Reaver stood behind Sparrow, who was completely oblivious to the pirate's presence. Once she stood back up again, she clashed herself straight into Reaver. She lost her footing, making her feet slip underneath her. The pirate caught her hand and tried to pull her back up but she was heavier than he had expected and so they both pummeled to the ground.

"Ouch…" Sparrow moaned at her sore buttocks. Reaver seized her lips and stayed locked in the embrace until they had to separate for air. He planted eager kisses along her jaw while his hands occupied themselves by unbuttoning her coat. His mouth moved lower, over to the nape of her neck and Sparrow could nothing to stop, but she had yet to fight against him or protest so far.

"Reaver… don't" Utter desperation massed in her voice. "Have you taken some secret vow of chastity, my dear, mnh?" He whispered in her ear. Sparrow moved her head as far away as she could but he trapped her face in-between his hand and his face. "I… uh, well…" Her eyes locked with his. She seemed to drown in those green orbs of his. "Well then, there is no reason to deny me, is there, Sparrow?"

Twigs and leaves snapped and crackled behind them. "Oi, what the hell do you think you're doing?" a voice shouted and its owner grabbed the pirate's cloak and threw him off of the young Hero. 'Hey, you all right?" Hammer asked as pulled Sparrow to her feet. "He hurt you anywhere?" Sparrow shook her head, and followed hammer back to Garth. Reaver followed soon after.

Everyone was silent for the duration of the walk to the tower. Hammer kept close to the young Hero and cocked her head back on occasion to glare at the pirate. Garth led the way and looked sadly at the scorch marks lined along the walls. Sparrow felt guilty at half destroying Garth's home, but she was surrounded by Lucien's goons that she had unleash an ocean of fire that ultimately scorched the surrounding walls beyond repair. Garth was in all honesty surprised that she had no Will lines with all the power she had. Sparrow only used her Will in very dire situations only.

The cullis was up ahead, emanating its blue light. "Well, there it is," Garth grunted and looked behind him at the other three heroes. "You ready for whatever lies beyond this point?" Sparrow brushed past him and stood at the edge of the gate.

Everything went wrong in one moment.

Eerie lightning consumed the young Hero and stunned the other well out of the way. Sparrow activated the gate and fought her way through, but it was an amount of Will she had never felt before. Everything around her was gone: the tower, Garth, Hammer, Reaver … everything. Another crack of white lightening shot at Sparrow and hit its target. The electricity had burnt the left side of her stomach, where it had originally hit. The pain was unbearable and made her vision blurred, until she collapsed in fatigue. She woke with cold stone pressed against her cheek.

_Am I in Wraithmarsh?_ She tried to collect her thoughts, but her head felt too swollen to think. Sparrow turned over onto her side saw a clear sky. No fog or ghouls, just green grass and a clear sky. A blurred figure stood in the distance and rushed over to her, but Sparrow was unconscious again before he could get to her.

**Huraah! Chapter one is done. What do you think? More will be on its way. Bye-bye now! ^^ **


	2. Ripple

**Right, now we continue our journey with Sparrow. I got five reviews so far, yahooo! I was in the clouds. Thank you to everyone that reviewed so far! Oh, and to answer a question from DianaP: Who knows if Reaver has ulterior motives, it's Reaver after all. **

**Oh, FYI, it usually takes me a while to update, but if it takes longer than a year, you'll know that BosBaBe and I have **_**tragically**_** killed each other. (She's an Ulquiorra fangirl and I'm a Grimmjow fangirl. We actually got so enwrapped in our argument that we started stabbing each other with laundry pegs. ^^ It was a real blast.) Well, lest I want to bore you, lets get on with the story.**

**Enjoy chapter 02:**

**Ripple **

Sparrow breathed slowly but she would live yet another day. The pillow at her head was soft and the blankets were warm. She reached out from under the blanket to rub Russell's head, but she grabbed at empty air. She shifted her feet, expecting to have them pinned under the hound's heavy body, but… there was nothing. Her blue eyes shot open. Her bed was smaller than what she remembered... She looked around the house. She wasn't in Oakfield. The house was small; a single room house, just like her own house. The bed was in the far corner of the room, somewhat secluded from the rest of the room. A small wooden drawer chest was at the foot of the bed. A dining room table was relatively in the middle of the room and behind that was the small kitchen area, with the food cabinet, table and sink, but no stove. A small fire was blazing in a brick fireplace near the door. The rest of the place was sparsely decorated, or not decorated at all.

Sparrow tossed the blanket aside and planted her bare feet on the wooden floor. The young Hero stood up and felt a hem flutter at her legs and the air chill her arms.

_I'm wearing a dress?_ Panic sank in her stomach. She remembered being shot at by lightening, passing out, and waking up to see a blurred figure run to her. _Right, time for major crisis management here, Sparrow... … … … First of all, I need to raid this person's food cabinet. _She trotted over to the food cabinet and swung the doors wide open. Large, juicy fruits seemed to dance in front of her as she grabbed them greedily and cradled them into her embrace. She dumped them all down onto the chopping table and scratched around in the other cabinets for a knife and finally found one in the food cabinet. Once she sliced and diced the fruit all together in chunks, she reached for a clay bowl on top of the cabinet, but she was too short. Sparrow stretched her figure out until she balanced on the balls of her feet.

"Mother of Avo!" She cried out as she settled back flat on her feet. She attempted again and this time had more success: she touched the brim of the bowl! Sparrow had it right at her fingertips when it tipped over the edge. The young Hero summoned up a cushion of wind to stop it from shattering on her head, and she managed to keep the bowl perfectly intact. She scrapped all the fruit into the bowl and grabbed a clean spoon that had been lying on the chopping table. She wolfed all the fruit down and retired to the arm chair by the fireplace. Sparrow curled up onto the chair and watched the flames crackle and dance.

Without realizing it, she had fallen asleep again while she was in front of the fire. The shuffle of feet behind her had awoken her from her black slumber. Sparrow glanced over the back of the chair and saw a man with brunette hair in front of the sink, washing plates. He was dressed plainly in a worker's shirt, and loose fitting trousers. From what Sparrow could make out from her angle, he was rather muscular. He had wonderfully tanned skin from hours of long, hard labour no doubt.

"I see you made yourself right at home, didn't you, lady." He said but didn't stop with the washing to look at her.

_Lady? ... What am I, royalty? _When the young Hero looked again, he was at his bed, pulling his shirt over his head. Sparrow felt her heart jump in her throat as his back muscles tensed at his movement. Sparrow flushed and sank back into the chair. A hot mug of tea sat on a simple wood end table next to her. She took the cup in hand and sipped at the warm brew. She stood as well and looked to her host. _Who is this man? Well, at least he has a drop dead gorgeous body,_ Sparrow chanted happily to herself. _I wonder if his face is half as good looking._

The man was heading out the door when Sparrow had looked at him, but still only saw the back of his head. "I'll be back now. I just need to go and draw some water," he said, standing in the doorway, "that is if you want a hot bath?"

"I'd like that, thank you very much." He went off and for the first time she realized that her _weapons _were gone too. Her first thought was to search the chest at the bed and as luck had it, they were there; waiting for her. She saw her clothes and quickly yanked them on. Her arm brushed past an uneven part at her stomach.

The young Hero pulled the white dress over her head, but not without a sharp spike of pain from her wound. Sparrow looked down at herself and saw the raw, unsightly scar stretched across the right side of her stomach. Her shirt had a hole in it, and it displayed the raw, pink, fleshy wound, but it was better than a dress. Once she was in her own clothes and her Calavera was close at hand, she settled back by the fireplace and finished her tea.

The man returned twenty minutes later and when Sparrow finally _saw _his face, she grabbed the mug and chucked it all the way across the room to hit the man. But Sparrow missed for the first time in her life.

"You think this is some joke don't you?" She raved. "Well, I'm waiting for the big punch line that says 'you got powned'!" The man was thrown back at her sudden rage. "I'll even bet you put that dress on me, you sick bastard." She took Calavera in hand. "Well … … I'm waiting! Where is your usual wise ass remark now, huh?"

"Lady, I m-"

"Drop the act, Reaver, its grown old now. Fun while it lasted right? ... And STOP calling me 'lady', you know I barely tolerate your 'my dear' and 'lovely'."

"I think you have me confused with someone, I found you out in the wood by the old gate, late yesterday." He seemed very stern and to-the-fact with what he told her. Sparrow however was convinced that it was all part of his master plan to get back at her for the beetle incident. "My name is Aeden. And you are currently in Oakvale."

_This has to be some other ruse. Reaver would never joke about being in Oakvale, not even to get back at me, but I still don't like this! _

Reaver or Aeden walked into the house and sat down at the fireplace. "I already boiled the water for you. The bath house is outside, a little to the left once you're out the door." Sparrow followed his directions to the bath house. In it was a large wooden tub filled with steaming water. She kicked her boots off and rid herself of her clothes and stepped into the bath. She soaked in the bath for a while before she got hold of a cake of white soap and properly washed herself. Her wound was throbbing and the warm water stung the raw, healing flesh but her mind was too fogged to pay any heed to pain.

She drew her legs close to her chest and tucked her knees under her chin. She felt so confused. She had used the Brightwood cullis gate to get to Wraithmarsh, not to get sent five hundred years back to Oakvale. She pondered on multiple theories but none of them seemed to justify her situation.

_Well, I think I've done enough thinking to last me a week. And when I get my hands on Garth, he'll wish he was the one sent back in time. _Sparrow remembered when they were all supposed to go to Wraithmarsh to find the Hero of Skill but everyone, save Sparrow, was relayed back to the Guild.

The young Hero forced herself from the warm refuge of the bath house and returned to Reaver ... Aeden, who was in the house. She found him at the dining room table with a bow and a quiver of arrows out on the table before him. He strung the bow tightly and swiftly like he had been doing it all his life. He noticed her in the corner of his eye but made a point to ignore her. Sparrow dropped down in a chair opposite him.

"Look..." She had planned the entire speech in her head, but now the whole thing just seemed ridiculous. "I- well..." He had a smile on his lips as he listened to her stumble and stutter. "I'm... sorry for what I said and did earlier, it was inappropriate. I didn't expect end up here... in Wrai—Oakvale." Reaver looked at her with his sea green eyes. "It's alright, besides I managed to dodge that mug, so no real harm done."

"So, you hunt?" A giggle slipped out at the end, but she never really pictured Reaver ever having anything _but _his Dragonstomper, let alone a bow!

"Yes, I'm the only man in Oakvale that can actually hit a moving target, be it deer or bandits." He stood up and went over to his food cabinet. "You must be hungry after that long nap of yours, right?" he withdrew some cold cooked meat and handed it to her in a plate. He laughed the entire time she ate. "I have to be honest; I have _never _seen a woman eat a portion of venison that ravishingly or as fast." Sparrow had heard all that before and simply shrugged. "You are a very strange woman." She leaned back in the chair, completely at ease in his company. "Oh, really? And why would that be, kind ser?" The room was filled with his warm laughter. "For one, you dislike being called lady. Two, you travel around with a mace, and third, you eat _far_ more than any woman I have ever seen."

Sparrow and Aeden spent hours just talking and she had slipped the topic of farming in and immediately apologized and tried to change the subject. "Why are you apologizing? I've done my fair share of farming in the day, but now a days, I'm more of the village hunter than anything else… but a beautiful woman such as yourself getting her hands all dirty, quite… a riveting sight." Sparrow's cheeks were pink from the comment, true Reaver was more… open about his thoughts, but being with him now, as Aeden was… was it different? The selfish bastard had to be there somewhere, deep inside, just waiting to pounce upon him.

"I have to come to a disturbing realization: I don't even know your name, dear lady-"

"For one, don't be calling me lady!" She snapped at him. "Well, I suppose I can tell you…" She didn't finish her sentence, just sat there staring off in the other direction. "…And… your name would be?" He asked after she failed to fill in the missing word.

Loud bangs on the door prevented Sparrow from telling her name and she found herself thanking Avo for the interruption.

"'Ello?" Aeden swung the door open and looked down at a small, tan dressed girl at the door, and then to the well risen sun. "Oh, sod!" He sprinted away cursing like he had no tomorrow. The two had spent all night talking. He was enjoying her company so much that he had paid no attention to the sunlight that had spilled through his windows. The young Hero was stunned at his curse, but was anxious about the little girl that was staring right at her, like she drinking up her very soul.

The girl trotted over to Sparrow and poked at her arm. "Hey, you're real!" A happy gleam spanned on her chubby features. The young Hero raised an eyebrow. She wondered if she really looked that bad. "Um… I would hope so…" It was all she managed to think of.

"Wow, a real lady!" Sparrow twitched at the word lady.

_Is there some sign on me that says "Hey, I'm called Lady, pleased to meet you!"? I look like street dirt right now; no noble would touch me with a ten-foot-pole. _Sparrow gave the girl a wavering smile. "I'm not a lady; I'm far from it actually."

The girl's hands covered her hands to hide a gasp. "But you're too pretty to not be a lady! You're also in Deny's house, so you have to be pretty."

Now the little girl had done it, now she was curious. "What do you mean by that? So what, I'm in his house. I probably interrupted his late night entertainment." The girl just looked at her like she was a complete idiot.

"No, no! No girls ever in Deny's house, only me. The older girls push me round jus' cause Deny lets me in his house." Sparrow analysed the girl for a moment. She couldn't have been older than six and little horny teenage girls were pushing her around? "Well, where did Reaver – I mean Aeden run off to just now?" I knelt down next to her so that I could look her in the eye. She was a pretty girl, and would probably become a beautiful young woman. Her cheeks were sprinkled with brown freckles, her eyes hazel, big and loving, and her hair was a mass of thick, brown curls that spilled over her shoulders. Sparrow felt a sudden urge to hug the child to death.

"He went to help my Papa with the soil titling today, but he is an hour late." Soft childish giggles came from the girl. She took Sparrow's rough, slender hand in her small one and pulled her outside the door. "Come, I show you." They were at a gate when Sparrow turned back and collected Calavera. She didn't want to scare the locals with her pistol though, so she left that in the chest.

"Come, on! Hurry up!" She laughed at Sparrow as a walked even slower. "Why are old people so mean?" She grabbed the young Hero's hand again and pulled her along. Old? She called Sparrow old. She immediately wondered if she did look old, but shut that thought out of her head. She had to get back to her present Albion and defeat Lucien.

The girl led Sparrow over hills and into moist brown fields, waiting to be replanted with seeds. Oxen pulled the ploughs while some men hacked at the ground with pitch axe, and the woman had their aprons bundled up in their hands, filled with seeds that they would place in the ground.

"We wait here," the girl pointed at a fence that bordered the fields.

Sparrow placed the girl up on the fence and sat next to her, her eyes, scanning for Reaver. She found him way ahead of the oxen, breaking up the hard ground. The sunlight reflected off his body in a shimmer from his perspiration. He had worn so many clothes when Sparrow first met him that she never would have guessed he was that well built.

The young Hero talked to the girl, somehow, foolishly hoping she would know someone who would know a way back to Albion. "M' name is Clara, and yours, lady?" Clara asked with her child-like curiosity.

"Well, I guess I might as well tell you. My name is Evana, but you can call me, Van." It was the first time in a long time she had actually spoken her own name. Only Rose and Theresa knew her real name.

"Okay, Vannie!" Clara seemed to have a habit of adding an 'ie' after a person's name. A woman called after Clara and she told Sparrow to find her again in the village.

She did just that almost a minute later. She browsed through the small stalls and she had earned more than half a by-passer's glance, but she couldn't hold them guilty exactly; she was wearing a half burned shirt and a scary-looking mace strapped to her back. She had asked if there was a leather tanner near by and as luck had it, there was one on the west ways, outside of the village.

The strong smell of processed animal hide was a very alluring smell for the young Hero, even though some people couldn't stand it. It reminded her much of growing up in Old Town. Rose once worked for a leather tanner for about an autumn, before it was shut down by Nicky the Nickname and his lot. Inside there were men, both young and old alike that were hard at work stretching and boiling the hides. To one side an old man crept out of the corner and regarded Sparrow.

"Anything I can do for ya?"

Sparrow gave an unsuspected smile to the old man. "Yes, I hope you can. Do you have any proper travelling boots and a light leather coat?" The old man grunted and scratched his thinning hairline. "The boots I can give you now… but the coat…" He moved his hand to his bearded chin. "I can make you a coat fashioned similar to the one you have on but it'll take time – and four gold." Sparrow nearly laughed at the price, but realized that she was five hundred years in the past and then, four gold pieces was a lot of money. "Alright, you got yourself a deal." The two shook hands and the young Hero handed over the four pieces. The old man took her to their stall area and showed all the boots they had currently. She grabbed a pair of darkly stained ones and left.

_Right, next stop, clothes stall_, she thought dreadfully to herself. She saw a whole range of different dresses, all in different colours or patterns, but that was not quite what she was looking for. "Um, excuse me, ma'am?" She got the attention of the plump stall vendor. "Hi, would you have any shirts on sale?"

"Oh, you mean those ugly ones the men wear?" Sparrow nodded eagerly. "But they are too ugly for any woman to wear. Why not take a dress or skirt instead, much more lady-like." She held up a dark green dress to the young Hero's face, nearly smothering her with the thick material. Sparrow yanked the dress out of the woman's sausage fingers, and creased the material in her clenched first. Now she really wanted to go home to Oakfield.

"Look…" Sparrow took a deep, calming breath before she went on. "I just want the shirt… please." The woman obliged and took out a yellowish coloured shirt from behind the counter. The young Hero held it up against her body. It would be a bit of a loose fit, but it would have to do. "This'll do. How much do I owe ya?"

"One silver and fifty copper pieces." Sparrow took a single gold piece from her money pouch and flicked it into the woman's hands, who seemed to be awe-struck from the sight of a solid piece of gold. Sparrow swung her newly purchased shirt over her shoulder, shoved her feet through the new boots, discarded the worn-out pair, and wondered through the village. There was nothing moderately interesting there, even in the little square. The women were crowded around the water well, in the centre of the square. They seemed no older than Sparrow, but some already had little tykes trotting around their feet. They all laughed and chatted around each other, but once they caught sight of the young Hero making her way past them and to the other side of the square, they stopped talking and looked at her with blazing eyes. A middle-aged woman broke through the tight bunch of woman and strode after Sparrow.

"Excuse me?" She called after Sparrow. She stopped in her tracks and looked out at the woman. "So, you must be the young woman Clara was talking about." It was then that she noticed Clara practically hanging around the woman's legs. The girl gave her toothy smile and continued twirling.

"Really, what gave me away?" She replied. The woman laughed a bit before she regained her composure.

"A joker, this place could really use more of you then. Oh, pardon me, I'm Janise, Clara's mother." Her hand rested lightly on Clara's head before she turned her attention back to the young Hero. Janise had streaks of grey among her bundle of brown curls, as well as a face as freckled as her daughter's. She seemed a little too old to have a six year old child.

Sparrow noticed that she was waiting for the young Hero to give her name in return. "Oh… um, I'm Evana." Clara smiled again. "Yep, that's Vannie, alright!" The girl tore herself from her mother and grabbed the young Hero's hand and tugged at it with a surprising force. "Vannie, will you make some bread with us, pweddy pweese!" She was pouting her upper lip in a quiver that made Sparrow want to give the child anything she might have asked for.

"There's no need, I have enough hands in the kitchen, but you're more than welcome to sit by us while you wait for Aeden to finish his work in the fields." The young Hero gave a confused muffle from her mouth. _Does it look like I'm the type of girl that waits around for a man, much less Reaver-Aeden, whatever he calls himself! _She whined inwardly. _I have nothing else to do, so I might as well kill some time_. _I can delay my little quest for answers until tomorrow._

XxxxX

Janise's house was small, but it was a double story, so she had more than most in the village. Sparrow had met the three youngest of Janise's children (excluding Clara), of which two were twin boys around about the age of eight named Tim and Jack. The older one was a thirteen year old girl named Sasha. In the kitchen, Sparrow sat to one side at the dinner table, while Janise and her two girls made the dough. Clara was coated in white flower and playfully smeared it all over her sister's face, who gave her the same treatment in return, but with great care.

Once the bread was in the oven, Janise put Sasha in charge of cleaning up her younger siblings in the wash house out back. In a moment a welcome silence filled house. The older woman settled in a chair beside Sparrow and scanned her head to toe. "So…" she began, "How did you and Aeden land up together?"

Sparrow felt her cheeks sprinkle with pink. _Was __**that**__ what everyone thought of them? A damn couple? _"Ahm, it's nothing like that at all! We… He found me the other day unconscious outside the village and took me in and dressed my wound; that is all."

"Aw, and here I finally thought he'd found someone to dig the furrow with."

"Huh?"

"Come now," Janise nudge the young Hero with her elbow. "He's the most attractive man in this village with his hard body, tanned skin, lushes brown hair, soul-piercing sea green eyes, and a voice like none other, like he was a gift to woman from Avo! But, sadly he's old enough to be one of my sons so…"

Sparrow sat in her chair, but shifted about, suddenly all too aware of the hard, creaky wooden chair she sat on. 'I-I suppose he's not bad-"

"How does a pretty thing like yourself say something like that, hmn? He could have any woman he wanted, hell, he could've had them all in one go if he wanted, but it seems like he has no interest in 'em. But you, Evana, it seems he has an interest in you – now don't give me lip that he found you and all the other night… I saw the way he watched you this mornin' when you and Clara came to the fields. The man wouldn't take his eyes of ya, and nearly stabbed his own foot with that pitch fork of his while he was lookin' too!"

Sparrow refused to register what she had just heard. Reaver was not interested in woman? The very idea was beyond ludicrous. Why the interest in Sparrow? She was as independent as a young man, she fought like one too. She wore no make-up, she never styled her hair, she just let the bangs fall where they pleased, and she didn't even dress remotely like a woman. The young Hero never admitted to anyone but she had her fair share of scars, not to mention her latest addition she got a day ago, and that one was as ugly as they came. It splayed over the right side of her abdomen, from her hip to her naval. She could already tell that the scar tissue was going to be uneven, maybe it would make one of those dreaded lumps, and she prayed dearly that that wouldn't happen in her case.

"Hey, Ma, we're home!" A voice announced all the way from the front door. "'Nd Aeden's with us!" Janise got to her feet and greeted whoever was at the door. When she returned a file of young men were after her. "Evana, this is Edgar, Jamis and this handsome man back 'ere is m' husband, George." The first son, Edgar, was tall, had some muscle on him, straight nose, blue eyes, and a clean-shaven head. The second was lanky and much too scrawny in the young Hero's opinion, but had a voice silk-like enough to draw any woman to his bed. Then there was George, Janise's husband, his face brown from a life time of labour spent in the fields, he had grey sideburns that hadn't been cut in what seemed like a good decade. His hair was grey, with only the faintest hints of yellow strands, well, the hair he had left anyway. Janise pecked him on the cheek, her hair tickled his nose, making him wrinkle it in an odd way.

"Well," George turned his attention towards Sparrow. "This must be the new lady in town." There is was, the word 'lady'. The young Hero had to force herself down from nearly verbally attacking the poor man. "Really, who woudda guessed?" She clenched her fist on her lap slightly. "Haha! A joker, this town could use you then! Bu' all they said abou' ya was ta look out of the lady, with night-black hair, a scary lookin' mace and a raw burn on her stomach." The statement made her very conscious of the wound at that moment.

"Aeden, darling, are th' two of ye going to stay for dinner?" Janise asked him. He was dressed in a slack, paper-like looking shirt with leather ties in the front that he left undone. "Sorry, Janise, I think maybe another time, when the lady is more acquainted with everyone, but thank you for the thought." He sent a nod Sparrow's way and she knew he was telling her to leave with him. She walked after him. At the door, he held it open for her, and she was stunned by his manners, but continued walking and went out the door and waited by the gate.

When they got to his house, he threw himself down into the chair by the fire and gave a loud sigh of content. The young Hero closed the door and locked it. She set Calavera down by the wall next to the door and strode over to the kitchen area. She took a painted clay mug from a shelf and filled it to the brim with water. She turned on her heel and stood next to the exhausted hunter. "Here," she put held the mug in front of his face. "Looks like you could use it." He smiled and enclosed his hands around hers. Sparrow felt slightly uncomfortable with his hands directly over her own hand like that, and slipped it out of his soft touch.

"Thanks," he lifted the mug and drank a steady amount of the cool water. When he lowered it from his face, he seemed more rejuvenated in a way. "So… Your name is Evana?" She flinched, realizing that she told the old woman her name, but she had yet to tell him her real name, he didn't even know what her moniker was. She took a chair from the dinning room table and put it in front of the fire, beside his. "Um… Yeah, I suppose it is…" She saw he was a little angry with her. But then again Reaver was angry at her on a regular basis when she purposefully took too long to kill one thing, and then something would attack him, so why did she feel disappointed that she made him angry?

"A very pretty name you have then."

"…Thanks…"

The two sat in slice, both watching the fire crackle and dance in front of them. Sparrow noticed the glow of the fire gave his tanned skin a godly golden glow, and as if he sensed her stare, he looked her way and the young Hero immediately averted her eyes down and looked straight at her lap. She sat in that position for what seemed like eternity. When she finally got a smidgen of courage to look up, she saw that he was fast asleep in his chair. Sparrow stood and took the mug from his hand and put it down on the table, she got a blanket out from the chest at the foot of his bed and threw it ever so gently over his sleeping form.

She felt somewhat guilty that she got to sleep in a bed while he slept in the chair, even though it was in front of a fire, the chair was hard and not that comfortable to wake up in, and that she knew form experience. She shrugged off her coat, draping it over the chest and kicked off her new boots, making them lie under the bed. Getting under that sheet she let out a heavy breath and recollected the day's events. Sometime while she was thinking she had fallen asleep and was now tossing about the bed. With every slight turn the bed creaked and wailed under the shifting pressure of Sparrow's body.

_A blue light emanated to a ruby red tone. Sparrow turned about, observing what was happening while Rose feared for their safety, but she didn't understand why her big sister worried so; he was a kind man after all, he would hurt two innocent street children, would he? _

"_My Lord, what's going on?" Rose asked over the hum the circle made. Lord Lucien stood hunched over his desk scattered with papers. "You aren't any of the three, one of you is the fourth." He grabbed a pistol that had been lying on the desk and pointed the barrel straight at Rose. "This isn't what I wanted, but nothing must stand in my way!" _

_Every seemed to slow down. Young Sparrow looked to her older sister whose eyes were wide drawn with fear, but not fear for her own safety, but for that of her little sister. _

"_No, wait! Please! Nooooooo…" Lucien pulled the trigger. Sparrow kept her eyes fixed on her older sister. A loud bang rang in the bowls of her ears. She saw Rose take a fraction of a step backwards before shreds of flower petal formed blood erupted from her chest. Lucien shifted the gun to level with Sparrow's chest. _

"_I'm sorry." He said before he pulled the trigger and sent the younger through the window. Unknown to the lord, the shot had created something entirely new: A child that would grow with hatred and vengeance in her heart. _

She tossed more violently than she had before. "No… Rose… come back…" She shouted the words out in her sleep. Firm hands shook her, and made her flash her sky-blue eyes open and force the person to the floor. Coiling her fist and raising it high, she crackled lightening around her clenched fingers. 

"Evana!"

That single word made her actually look who had woken her. She blankly stared down at Reaver who was lying flat on the floor. She extinguished the lightening and pushed herself off of him. The young Hero sat with her back supported by the bed, her legs curled up and her head hanging in between her arms.

"I could have killed you." That was all she wanted to say.

"I saw so, but luckily you didn't," he got to a sitting position on the floor and looked at her. "Not many people can use magic around here, so I think you should keep your Will skills to yourself for the moment." He watched her in silence. He stood up and held out his hand to her. "I'm not gonna strike at you for nearly killing me, you know." Sparrow didn't say anything.

_You should. I nearly killed the Hero of Skill, and then what would have happened in my present day without him? _She scolded herself for almost killing him.

"I know you won't but promise me this: You'll never wake me up, no matter how bad of a nightmare it might seem, don't wake me up!" She took his hand and he hoisted her up to her feet. While he did it gently, she wasn't expecting that much force from the pull and so she stumbled into him. The side of her face was resting completely on his cool, bare chest, and her free hand on his hard muscled abdomen. Sparrow felt her heart pace in her chest like a wild chicken on the run. The young Hero took a step back and cleared her dry throat.

"I'll go draw you some water so you can wash." He said, brushing past her ever so slightly. Sparrow was all alone with her thoughts.

XxxxX

76 minutes later.

Once she wore her new shirt and boots, Sparrow perched herself on a moderately flat surfaced rock that only a few yards away from the dark-looking, green tree line. She had asked Rea—Aeden about it earlier and he said that it was a large forest that sat between Oakvale and Westcliffe, and get this, there was apparently a gypsy camp somewhere in that forest and Sparrow being Sparrow had a good mind to go in there and find them. The young Hero sat there, thinking about what her next coarse of action should be … … … So far, she got as far as barging in there and maybe finding some old, wise looking gypsy woman to help her with her problem. She never was one for thinking too far ahead and for her, far ahead was no further than lunch. She glanced down to her side and at the base of the rock. There in all its shining glory was Calavera, if it didn't have the spikes, she would have slept with it under her pillow.

She was bored. Reaver went to help with the fields again and wouldn't be back until sundown.

_Aeden, his name is Aeden! Get it in your head woman! _Sparrow hit her fist against her head, and it was not a soft blow either.

She moaned and ruffled her short black hair wildly. If she decided to go ahead with her plan to head into the forest and find some form of answers, she would need a map, for starters, a proper tote bag for food and … Mother of Avo where was she gonna get food? She couldn't just raid the food cabinet again. She practically bounced off the rock, grabbing Calavera's cool hilt and swung the hefty mace until it rested on her shoulder. She had an urge to dip her free hand deep into her pockets, but these pants didn't have pockets, she needed to occupy the burning twitch in her fingers. Sparrow buckled Calavera onto her back and strode leisurely into the village.

She stopped by the clothing vendor again and this time the plump woman gave her what she asked for. Next, she purchased a whole arm load of fruit, she couldn't help that she was addicted to the soft, sugary foods. They always happened to find their way to her and into her stomach. A physician once told her that he was surprised she was even standing with the amount of sugar intake she had, any normal person would have died long ago, but alas she was not normal. She was a Hero so she guessed that that meant some rules really didn't apply to her; heck, she survived a free fall all the way from a tower in Castle Fairfax and right down onto some roofs and into the dirty, snow covered street.

Once she had bought everything she thought she needed, she went back to Reaver's house and looked around for a map. Once she had found one that mapped out most of the forest, she grabbed a piece of paper and hastily jotted down a note to Reaver telling him that she'll be back soon and not to worry. Sparrow put the letter down on the bed pillow, just to make sure it wouldn't maybe grow feet and bounce off, she put it half under the pillow.

The young Hero bent down at the foot of the bed and opened the lid of the drawer. She withdrew her pistol that was thankfully still in its leather holster and buckled it around her upper thigh. She tied her pouch filled with bullets to her waist and moved the money pouch more to the back. When she was satisfied with everything, she adjusted her coat and went out to start a new adventure.

It was a rather warm day and Sparrow was grateful to be in the cool shade of the trees. On occasion she glanced down at the map, trying to think where the best place would be to search for the gypsy camp. The needed water and some sort of natural fortification, and in that area, that meant they would most likely be on top of some sort of hill that was close to a stream or lake.

She made her course for the nearest destination fitting those specifications. The undergrowth was thick and festered with wide leaved ferns that brushed pasted Sparrow's legs. Her new shoes weren't as worn in as she would have like them to be on her first long walk with them but it wasn't completely all that uncomfortable as she thought it would have been.

She walked another hour before she took a rest, slumping down against the trunk of a great oak. She withdrew a flask of water from the tote bag and drank steadily. A small grey tree squirrel scurried down and sat almost directly in front of her, too busy scavenging for food to take notice of her. A green blur enveloped the squirrel, and when Sparrow blinked, it was not there anymore. She wondered for a moment on what happened to the squirrel but then got up and continued on her way.

Sparrow came to the stream that was indicated on her map but she had some difficulty find that hill that was supposed to be thirteen meters south of the stream. The young Hero stuffed the map into her tote bag and walked south. Not even a few paces away from the stream did Sparrow begin to hear voices. One was that an old gypsy woman clad in brown robes, while a younger woman in red and cream coloured robes walked beside her.

"You said that there would be someone on this way Mari, but I have not sensed anything since we set out this morning." The younger one said. Her voice was aching familiar to Sparrow but she could not put a face to the voice as Sparrow stalked after.

"Patience young one, you are young and are not yet sensitive enough to feel when a ripple of Time has come to a wrong place." The older woman commented.

'_Ripple of Time'? Thank Avo for Gypsy seers_, Sparrow thought. She stood straight and approached the women. The young Hero had not made a single sound when the older woman turned around and faced her.

"Ah, see, she came." Her face was dark and wrinkled and her hair white with age. "All that is needed is patience." She told the other woman, who was now also looking at Sparrow. Her face was triangular, her hair black and curly, but it was her eyes that stunned Sparrow the most. They were a clear crystal blue, just like Theresa's.

"T-Theresa?" Sparrow couldn't believe the woman that raised her was right in front of her. "But… uh - how?" The young Hero was confused to say the least. But this Theresa was different; she didn't have that warm smile on her lips that made her look so beautiful.

**That's chapter two finished and **_**klaar**_**. It seems that my average chapter length is around seven thousand words… This was done over 10 pages… Geez that's long. Last year I could hardly get to two thousand words! Hope you guys like the story so far, and I know it's a rather slow start but the pace within the story will pick up. Well, that's when I'm finally touching some ground… Who thought that in all my subjects (English, Afrikaans, Maths Lit, Business Studies, EGD and Visual Art) that the most homework would come from Art? My teachers are pretty cool though. (Mr Leighton owns all the teachers, naturally. He's 25 and a gamer) ^^ Thank-you to everyone that has reviewed so far and **_**dankie**_** (Sorry that's Afrikaans for thank-you. So that tells you I'm not entirely English. Please forgive any mistakes on my part.) to everyone else who read this story, I really appreciate it. I'm half way with chapter 3. So keep your fingers crossed there might be a little action sequence in there... somewhere. I'm not so sure yet. Would you like some action or just some plain exploring? **

**Bye-bye n****ow! ^^**


	3. Taking Flight

**Welcome to chapter 03. ^^ Sorry for the wait, but as I said, Art is keeping me busy. I also had exams to write but I'm still veeeeeery sorry for the long wait people. I hope you will all forgive me.**

**Again, I'm really sorry for the wait. There will be some action in that chapter! (At freaking last!) XD For those of you who are a little lost on where the story is going, I'll try to clear it up a bit here. **

**Enjoy chapter 03: **

**Taking Flight**

"T-Theresa?" Sparrow couldn't believe the woman that raised her was right in front of her. "But… uh – how?" The young Hero was confused to say the least. But this Teresa was different; she didn't have that warm smile on her lips that made her look so beautiful.

Sparrow couldn't believe it. There she was right in front of her but she _never _imagined that she would ever meet Theresa here in all places. She was supposed to be in the Heroes Guild, overseeing the activities of the Heroes, standing by that battered table of hers.

"Who are you?" Theresa asked, looking Sparrow in the eye.

The young Hero started to feel a bit distressed. The gypsy seer was like a mother to her, well a blind annoying mother that could communicate with telepathically but the concept was the same. "It's me, Sparrow." she tried smiling but her lips did not move.

"It appears this one is from the future, isn't that interesting?" The old gypsy known as Mari said to herself. "Well, then this will make the next few days interesting to say the least." She turned to Theresa and waved her off. Sparrow would have liked to have known how Theresa did that, being blind and all.

The older gypsy woman laughed good-heartedly at Sparrow's confusion. "Come child," she waved for the young Hero to come closer. "Let us take you back to camp, eat a hot meal and converse over what needs to transpire." Those old, wise eyes were open for Sparrow to look into and find that she meant no harm.

The young Hero followed the two gypsy women to their settlement which was in the total opposite direction Sparrow was travelling. The young Hero was afraid that she would get lost when she first started out in the forest but now she had two gypsies to follow around.

When they came to the encampment, Sparrow was surprised to see that there was less gypsies in this camp then the one in Bower Lake. But with Sparrow being an outsider to the camp it felt pretty big to her. She was glad to see that the general merriment stayed the same, at least until the young Hero approached the main camp fire which acted as a general place of relaxation and gathering.

The vivid-clad women stopped their dances, old men wrinkled their grey moustaches at her and young children cowered behind their parents when the Mari brought Sparrow closer.

"Now now. This is no way to greet a guest, now is it?" The old seer asked rhetorically. "She is here on my personal invitation." Mari sat down on an old pillow near the fire and waved the young Hero towards her. "Come and sit child – Harris, bring this child some meat, she is too skinny." she shouted over her shoulder to some man carving the meat in the corner.

Sparrow did not know whether to feel flattered or insulted by the old seer calling her skinny. She cast her eyes about the fire, admiring the bold and revealing dresses of the women – not that she would ever be caught dead in one, but she did admit that they were aesthetically pleasing to some degree.

The young Hero noticed a slight shimmer of steel from the shadows and turned her entire body towards the source, squinting her eyes to make out what it could be. After a moment the shimmer slithered from the shadows of the trees to reveal an exotically curved blade. Sparrow spent so much time admiring and analysing the blade that she forgot to look at the wielder.

A husky laughter exploded from so suddenly that Sparrow nearly jumped off the ground. She trailed her blue eyes up the blade and onto it owner. The arm was deeply tanned and muscular and up to a broad, shirtless, exotically vine-like tattooed chest and eventually settled onto the face of a handsome young man.

Sparrow felt her blood rush to her face so she profusely turned away from him and back to the fire. The action only deepened his laughter, thus making the young Hero blush seven different shades of pink. He had caught her staring – and not at him, but at his weapon. Garth was right Sparrow was just too … different to find a man to settle with.

_Well, not that I want to anyway, _Sparrow told herself.

"Shania, don't be so rude towards our guest, I thought I raised you better," Mari scolded the young man named Shania. [Pronounced Sh-aa-n-eye] Her eyes looked threatening enough, enough to make Sparrow scoot over to the left a few inches.

He stepped closer towards the fire. He was exceedingly handsome, even more so with the baggy brown trousers, worn out sandals and leather bracers adorned with rows of silver studs tied tightly around his forearms. He looked like an able fighter.

Shania settled down next to Sparrow and smiled warmly at her. "A beautiful woman like you that hauls around a deadly lookin' mace is a fatal combination both on and off the battlefield." He looked at her through dark eyes that hid nothing.

"Stop bothering the guest, Shania," Mari scolded from her side of the fire. "I'm just making some conversation, Grangran." He chanted like a scolded child. "Don't you 'Grangran' me, you little delinquent." Shania hung his head down in defeat. There was no point in arguing with the woman, even if she was you grandmother.

A man shuffled towards them, carrying bowls of warm soup. He handed the first bowel to Mari who smiled like any old woman would. Next he handed to Sparrow who took it gratefully and said her thanks. She stirred the small wooden spoon in the bowl and blew onto to it, trying to cool it down a little, scooping up as much as she could she and put it all in her mouth.

It tasted familiar. It tasted just like… home… back in the Bower Lake gypsy camp. Sparrow bowed her head down, staring into the bowl of yellowish soup in her lap. She ate it quietly and looked endlessly at the fire in front of her. All the other gypsies had their food as well, but stayed clear of Sparrow. The only people near the young Hero were the old seer, Mari and her grandson Shania.

"So, where do you hail from, lady?" Shania asked, not knowing he nearly signed his own death certificate.

Sparrow sighed and sat a little straighter. "Well, first of all if you have a death wish, I suggest you call me that again, go that?" She narrowed her cobalt eyes at the exotic warrior who nodded stiffly. "Good. To answer your question, I don't come from anywhere particular, well, I was born in Bowerstone. I was taken in by a band of gypsies when I was rather young, nine I think." She did not dare tell them that it was Theresa that took her in - no that would just send her into a large shit-hole that she would never be able to get out of.

Shania shrugged his shoulders, not really paying attention to what she had just said, even though he was the one that had questioned her.

"Then do you have a name I may call you by?" he asked, a grin spreading on his lips.

"Sparrow."

Shania tilted his head to the side in thought. "That is a rather unusual alias for someone, especially a woman."

Sparrow simply shrugged at his comment and looked into the fire again. "Well, that's my name, like it or not." The young Hero lifted her bowl and brought it to her lips, drinking out the last bit of soup that was left. Sparrow thought over what she was going to do next. First she had to find a way to talk to the old seer alone, though that seemed impossible, as all the other gypsies gathered around her, asking her to help them solve their problems. But… the old seer already seemed to know that she was from the future and maybe she did know a way from the young Hero to get back to her present Albion and deal with Lucien before he got to the other Heroes.

She calmly thought about all her friends. About how Hammer would be drinking and singing merrily and how Garth would have his nose buried in some old book or scroll. Her thoughts lingered on the Thief and how he had trailed his fingers up her torso and caressed her lips with gentle kisses.

Sparrow was plunged from her thoughts when she heard a high whistle next to her. She tilted her head up to see Shania standing next to her, looking down at her as if she were an idiot.

"What?" The young Hero asked. She found it highly annoying when people looked at her like that, but then again the latter that did look at her like that were illiterate.

"Grangran told me to escort ya back to Oakvale. She said she'll see ya tomorrow and answer any questions you have then. That okay with ya?" He asked her with a friendly smile.

She shrugged and put the bowl down. "Nn… sure I'll be here tomorrow."

XxxxX

Shania led Sparrow through the cool shade of the forest to return her to Oakvale. She could see the borderline of the forest in the distance and whirled around to look at Shania standing next to her.

"Well, its been fun," the young Hero waved as she stepped past him, eager to see Reaver again. 'Mother of Avo, get it right! It's Aeden, his name is, Aeden! Why am I happy to go back anyway? I still think he's an asshole.' Sparrow scolded herself fiercely. She turned her head back to get a last glance of the dark-skinned gypsy warrior, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Sparrow did not take it to mind and continued on her way. She slowed her pace as she got closer to the edge of Oakvale. Something was wrong. The air was heavy with smoke and faint screams and screeches now reached her ears.

The young Hero broke into a sprint, breaking through the borderline of dark trees. Her blue eyes fell upon the dark pillars of smoke rolling into the sky orange tainted sky. Sparrow kept her pace and went for the main part of Oakvale.

XxxxX

-Present day Albion, Heroes Guild-

Garth fell back onto his stool rubbing his temples with exhaustion. His white candle stick was wearing thin and he had yet to find anything relating to his fellow Hero's disappearance. The Will-user shifted more scrolls aside to make room for new ones.

"You must not over exert yourself, Garth," a smooth voice sounded from behind him. Theresa stepped closer to the worn-out table and looked at him with unseeing eyes.

"NO, I must keep searching! There is bound to be something amongst these scrolls about the cullis gates that will tell us what had happened to her."

The old seer placed a steady hand upon his shoulder. "Do not worry; I believe she will be fine. She will return to us when the time is right." Theresa turned on her heel, causing her red and cream robes to swirl. "She will find her way back. She has a thirst to quench after all." With those words she was gone again as suddenly as she appeared.

Garth wanted to take her words to heart, to comfort him, however, he found none. It was the second time that the Brightwood cullis gate had been inadequate and sent Sparrow spiralling into dangerous situations. This time they had no idea where she was. Not even Theresa – the Guild Master could make contact with her through the seal.

The soft whirls of the cullis gate caught his attention. He looked up in time to see Hammer step in with a bottle of beer in hand. The red-haired monk sat herself down against a pile of debris and drank from her bottle.

"Find anything yet?" Hammer asked sombrely.

The Will-user shook his head and drove his attention back to the ancient, musk scented scrolls in front of him. _Just hang on a little longer, Sparrow. _

XxxxX

Breaking into a straight sprint she sped her way past the fields and to the outskirts of the small town. It was chaos. Houses were alight, and screams were raw in the air. Sparrow tried to find some explanation for all this in a matter of seconds; however, her questions were answered as she saw a dark curled up ball quivering against a mud brick of a house. A ruggedly dressed bandit took wide strides to the shaking person and fisted a handful of the coarse clothing to hoist the person above the ground.

Sparrow recognised the person; it was George, the farmer. The bandit lifted his cutlass from his belt, angling it to slice the old throat open. Acting purely on instinct, the young Hero crackled her fist with white lightening and shot it straight at the bandit's head.

The unsuspecting bandit found himself tumbling to the ground and jerking about violently. The voltage of that single shot of Will power was more than enough to kill him. His skin and clothes were burning away and a rancid smell rose off of him like smoke.

Sparrow stepped over the withering corpse and took hold of George's shaking shoulders. "Hey, it's okay," she said, making her voice as soft as possible. The old man refused to look and shook his whole body from the core. "Hey, it alright, it's Evana."

The old man wheezed for air. "Ya havta—havta save ma family," he pleaded, putting his trembling hand on Sparrow's. "Please, they're all I have."

The young Hero felt her heart ache. There was no guarantee that she would find them amidst the chaos, but that would not stop her from trying anyway. She laced her strong fingers his, stroking her thumb in assuring patterns across the wrinkled skin.

"I'll find 'em," she said. "I promise. I need you to stay here and keep quiet until things calm down or I come and get you, okay?" Sparrow lifted him somewhat and moved him against the brick wall to help support his back. Before she ran off to go make due on her promise, she turned back and smiled softly at George.

Sparrow picked her feet up faster, her booted feet thundering on the ground. Her mind raced as wildly as her limbs did, thinking of all the people she had met in the last two days and how they managed to creep their way into her heart; even the annoying clothes vender had a place. Her thought lingered on Aeden for a moment and wondered if he had the capabilities to look out for himself.

_He's the Hero of Skill, _she thought to herself, _I'm sure he can handle a couple of bandits, but it would be nice to see him fight to a chance and give him a chance to prove he's not just some perverted, greedy, immortal jerk. _She shook her head, telling herself that he needed to save his own hide; there were other people that needed her more now.

She reached the square. It was total chaos; chickens running amok, children crying, mothers missing and bandits laughing a merry. There were so many bandits that Sparrow left helpless for the first time in her life. They never used to be this organised, or in such large numbers.

A bandit walked with a limp; an arrow lodged in his leg. "Boss!" he yelled. "We got' a prolem!"

He limped over to a large man sitting on one of the outside tables of the tavern. "Then deal wit it ya scum!" he resumed his drinking. No one seemed to notice the young Hero yet and if she timed it correctly, she would be able to kill the leader with a jolt of lightening straight to the head. "Well 'en go an' fix it!" the leader shouted, spewing some of his mead from his mouth as he talked.

"Ah… Sir… I can't." the bandit admitted. "I think he's one of 'em Heroes!" he shouted, pointing to the arrow lodged in his leg. "He shot me from the field, while I was jus' by the tanner!"

Sparrow sighed, slightly relieved that there was one less person she needed to protect. The Hero crouched behind a pile of overturned barrels, easing her head around the side to see what the bandits were up to exactly. The one they referred to as 'Boss' was still drinking leisurely. The bandit slammed his empty mug onto the table and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. The man was dressed in baggy, black pants, chunky boots plated with a strip of metal and a simple cotton shirt that was tattered at the hem. A nasty scar ran down from the man's bottom lip to the hollow of his neck, but the rest of him seemed unscathed with lightly bronzed skin and a pair of eyes as black as the night. His hair was in a rugged state like he could have cared less to comb it.

The young Hero tried to recall if she had ever heard of a bandit that fit his description, but she came up with nothing and that worried her, especially since the man had such distinctive features. Sparrow slacked her grip on Calavera, taking a few slow breaths to calm herself.

"Alright, let's go 'un look at yur supposed, Hero," the leader said mockingly, getting up from the bench with cat-like grace.

The young Hero shot her eyes open, now completely focused on her task. She jumped up from her hiding place, hauling herself over the barrels and landing in front of the group of bandits. Loud gasps of surprise came from the underlings at the sight of a raven-haired woman sporting a mace embedded with a skull and thick spikes. The expression on the bandit leader's face was one of indifference.

Sparrow straightened her back and shot her left hand up, summoning three blades of pure magic and let them loose, impaling three of the bandit underlings. The leader just titled his head to the side, glancing at one of his underlings as he fell to the ground in a pool of his own blood, the blade had vanished, allowing the blood to jet out of the wound. The man sent his full attention to the young Hero in front of him.

"Maaa… what a pretty little Will user you are," he said, giving Sparrow grin that seeped wickedness from his lips.

Sparrow looked at him with all the wrath she could muster. The man had condemned innocents to their deaths and he was making flirtatious jokes? It made her stomach churn with disgust. The young Hero felt an electrical charge course through her veins, the Will power within her begging to be released.

There were only two of his underlings left, both of them standing in flank with their leader. They looked on older than Sparrow herself, but she could not overlook everything they had done just because they were the same age. The bandits ran at her with their swords held high.

The young Hero leant forward, planning to use their momentum against them. She waited until the thundering of their footfalls deafened her, stepping forward, swinging Calavera in a wide horizontal arc, the spikes easily cutting through the pathetic protective gear of one of the underlings. Sparrow added more force to the blow so that the spikes were embedded into the man's flesh to the base of the skull on her mace.

Not having time to kick the corpse of off her weapon, Sparrow let both fall to the ground, spinning around on her heel to dodge a downward blow from the last bandit. The young man put too much force behind his swing, throwing himself off of balance when, Sparrow had evaded the attack. Her hand shot out and her deft fingers curled around the man's neck, her nails digging through the material of his scarf and dully scratching his sensitive skin. Sparrow finally allowed the electrical charge flow through her entirely, escaping through her fingertips trying to impale the man's neck.

The bandit let out an ear-piercing shriek as the blue-white vines of electricity snaked in and out of him, burning him from both the outside and within. His skin seared away, exposing muscle, the charge charred it beyond redemption.

Sparrow let go of the smoking, black corpse that had small flickers of flame licking at the remains. Her sky-blue eyes settled on the last man standing, the leader. The young Hero turned around, planting a boot to the bandit's corpse that had Calavera as a temporary resident. Sparrow pulled her weapon free, a loud and equally sickening pop sounded, and blood ran rivers down the golden spikes of her prized mace. The warm liquid had painted speckles on the white skull, making the illusion that it was smiling at the bloodshed.

Soft claps came from behind the young Hero. She slowly turned, not really believing her ears that the bandit leader was applauding her little showcase of violence.

"Bravo," he said, smiling at her with the same wickedness, "simply magnificent! To what name shall I call such a deathly beauty such as you?"

"Sparrow," she injected as much venom into her voice as she could. "And can I acquire yours?"

The bandit smiled. "Vince," he did a small bow, putting one hand behind his back. "I shall bid you farewell, until we meet again, little Sparrow."

Black vapour slithered about the man, swallowing him whole, and cleared away, taking him with it. Sparrow sank to the ground, never having left so utterly defeated in her life. If only she had stayed and not going into the forest to find answers. She felt hot tears prick at her eyes and fiercely wiped them away with her backhand.

Her breath hitched in uneven gasps as she tried to get a hold of herself. Sparrow had let all of those people down. She was a Hero and she should have done her duty to protect them, she didn't even know if, Aeden was alive. Taking a steadying breath, she pushed herself of off the ground, pulling Calavera up with her and rested its golden haft on her right shoulder. Sparrow needed to be sure if the Hero of Skill was alive. She did not know what she would do if he died, especially against, Lucien.

One of those bandits had said that Aeden was in one of far fields by the tanner. Without thinking, Sparrow ran through the ruined town, jumping over debris, flying past the survivors that there were, seeming like a dark blur to their eyes.

Sparrow ran across the fields, leaving deep tracks in her wake. She looked around frantically for Aeden. She searched for him and saw a slumped figure in the distance. The young Hero ran over to it, praying that it was Aeden. Her prays were chanted like a mantra in her mind.

Aeden sat cross-legged in the dirt, his hand curled limply about his bow. His bronze skin was as pale as death itself and his sea-green eyes had lost their shine. Sparrow crouched down in front of him. She knew how he felt. It was that chilling burn on your soul that consumes you when you first take a life. It makes your stomach churn and your heart ache, but worst of all you question how humans are capable of doing so onto their own brethren.

"Hey, we need to get you inside." she spoke in soft tones. The young Hero rested a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Aeden grasped her hand and pulled her forward, making Sparrow fall flush against him. "I just want to listen for a bit." He pulled her closer to his cool skin.

Sparrow wondered what he meant but was compliant and lay her dark head down on his shoulder. His breathing was ragged and hot against her pale neck. "Shhh..." Sparrow soothed him, running her deft fingers through his short brown tresses. "It's going to be ok; you just have to believe everything will turn out alright."

The young Hero pulled back from his embrace and pulled him up to his feet and lead him back towards the village. Sparrow looked at the villagers standing back up and helping others, while some started cleaning. She still felt guilty for what had happened. The young Hero took Aeden back home, putting him in the chair by the fireplace and brought the flames to life. Sparrow got a blanket out from the trunk and wrapped the fleece about the brunette.

She went to the pantry and looked about, finding some fresh meat. Sparrow started the oven and took out a pan from under the cupboard and oiled it with olive oil. The young Hero coked the meat until it was medium-rare and then deposited the meat onto the cutting board. She roasted a few vegetables, thinking that Aeden might not be able to stomach meat at the moment. She cut him a slice of meat in any case and put a healthy portion of greens in his plate as well and brought it to the man.

"Here, I made you some food." Sparrow looked at him, standing right beside him with the plate towards him. "You don't have to eat now, but I'll put it right here in case you get hungry." She laid the plate down on the small end-table next to the chair.

Sparrow let him be and sat at the dinning table to eat her own food. After she had eaten most of the meat herself, she put her plate in the washing bucket and returned to Aeden. He did not touch his food and it was as cold as ice now. She took his plate in hand and threw away the wasted food and put his plate with hers.

The young Hero pulled another chair to sit by the hunter. She looked at the dancing flames for some time before she glanced back at Aeden's orange hued face. It was as blank as when she had first brought him back.

"Look, I know what it's like... but you need to move on and help the others repair the village." She tried to make him see reason, but h was as indifferent as before she started talking. Sparrow sighed and rubbed her hand over her face. There was one place she could take him, she thought about it for a little while longer. It would work, especially since his powers were still so raw.

Sparrow leapt up from her chair and found her duffle bag and took another from the trunk. She stuffed Aeden's clothes in and quickly folded bread, fruits and dried meats in some cotton cloth and tucked them away safely into her bag. She pulled a thick robe from his closet and made her way over to him again. The young Hero pulled him to his feet and unwrapped him from the blanket and yanked on the hunting robe to keep him warm.

Sparrow took out another for herself and put it on. She took the other's bag and tied it over his shoulder to keep it there. She took a part of her cloak and ripped off a ribbon and tied one and to Aeden's wrist and the other to hers. She pulled him away from the fire and continued once she was certain he would give no protest.

Sparrow took Calavera in hand and slung it over her shoulders and swung open the door. She yanked Aeden along and he two walked through the night. The hunter remained silent as Sparrow led them through the twists and turns of the dark and misty mountains.

**Right, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. If Reaver/Aeden is OOC, that is because that was the first time he ever had to kill anyone. Sorry if it bothered anyone. Sparrow seemed a bit cold, but it will all help our Hero of Skill in the end. Where can she be taking him I wonder? **

**I think I've been watching and reading too much Naruto for my own good. Well, keep your eyes peeled for chapter 4: ****Drown Your Sorrows! **

**Reviews are appreciated and I would like to know what you guys think of the story so far. **

**See ya next time people! **


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